![]() In spite of his stretching the truth, and all their years of marriage, Edward and Sandra remain deeply in love into old age. By virtue of his enduring belief in the power of magic, Edward gets Will and those around him to believe more in a philosophy of life that is more spiritual and everlasting, and a deeper connection and presence with the world around them. Throughout the film, Will tries to get his father to admit that he is making things up, that there is a logical explanation for how he remembers events, but Edward insists upon his version, and tries to instill in his son that the more fantastical version can reflect a greater reality than the literal facts ever could. In his eyes, anything is possible giants, witches, and werewolves roam among us, and time literally stops when one falls in love. While Will wants to hear the actual account of things, Edward is convinced that there is magic in the world, and his stories reflect his magical thinking. RealityĪnother major theme in the film is the boundary and tension between fantasy and reality. Will is able to finally differentiate from his father and realizes that their differences are not as bad as he had thought. Ultimately Will realizes that his father's way of seeing things differently is his way of wanting to feel more connected to others. In doing so, he finds that he actually begins to understand his father in a way that transforms their relationship and makes him appreciate the uniqueness of Edward's nature. When Edward is sick with cancer and goes off chemotherapy, Will returns home in hopes of repairing their relationship. Thus, the tension between them, the fact that Will wants Edward to be a different kind of person, creates an unbridgeable rift. After years of believing in the fairy tale version, Will wants his father to tell it like it is, but reality is not quite in Edward's vocabulary, and he prefers the mythic. Edward's storytelling, the fact that it is both so attention-grabbing and seemingly fantastical, frustrates Will because he wants to know the truth. ![]() Will and his father are estranged because Will feels that Edward's tall tales have become too extreme and have pushed them apart. ![]() The central theme of the movie is the father-son relationship. Buy Study Guide Father and Son Relationship ![]()
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